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Message: [QUOTE="SubbaBub, post: 3907017, member: 523"] This was a high ceiling, low floor, but not so low as the post 2015 AAC, year. Wildly inconsistent and unable to do more than scare top 25 level teams. We had the talent to go as far as the Elite 8 (especially given the rest of the East Bracket). We handed Maryland a potential program defining gift. At the top level, the little things matter. 5 buckets was the difference in winning or losing against a below average NCAA squad. Sorry, MD isn't good. We saw the best they could produce and still held them to 60 pts. 5 buckets, whether on offense or defense would have sent us against Bama with the winner of that game having an easy S16 matchup. Those 5 buckets and more were given away in some of the dumbest plays we can remember, most on offense in missed layups, or comically bad turnovers. Early in the season it was bad shot selection from tip to buzzer, but last night I don't remember that many bad shots though I didn't like Whaley 2nd 3pt attempt from the corner. You could also point to the 3 or 4 complete breakdowns on D that led to no less than 9 easy points, but they held MD scoreless for about 4 minutes at the end and 60 pts total minus the end of game FT's. Defense wasn't the problem. Dan Hurley is going to get a lot of reflexive hate and maybe deserves some, it was never clear aside from a couple out of bounds plays that we were working for a specific shot during the run of play. Nothing where we ran a set specifically to get Bouk a good shot or free up Polley or Martin or Cole for an open jumper. i'm sure it happened but it wasn't obvious nor often. We ran motion and let the players decide where to go. It didn't work because MD was blitzing Bouk with 3 or 4 guys every time he touched the ball. That isn't an exaggeration. The other guys were ready to take advantage nor did we seem to address it. Yeah, Bouk had an off night, but 1 on 3 would demand that he not be the one to carry the team until MD was forced to back off. We never forced them to back off. Why? because the two ways you get them to back off are hitting threes if they double with a guard or dumping it inside if they double with a big. We'll we sucked from 3 and our bigs were in foul trouble immediately. The third option, drive the lane and get fouled, was not on the referee's menu. Everyone was expecting Bouk to dominate and MD said, we don't care what you do but, that ain't happening at all costs. So Dan Hurley has some blame here for not helping his team but, you need to shoot better than 32% if you plan on winning any game. That's on the players. As for the program, it's always about the players. I enjoyed this season a lot more than I probably should have but, I like the players on this team. They played hard, every game, and most of them played above their realistic expectations. The underclassmen need to improve and step up. The returning upperclassmen need to find a way to contribute or expect to sit. Hurley is bringing in better talent on paper. We were a 2nd reliable scoring option and a reliable 3pt shooter away from being really special. We still need those things plus we need a lead dog and a reliable interior defender and rebounder. If that sounds like we need 4 players, you'd be right. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach